Friday, March 9, 2012

Manuel's 'The Lithium Cycle' Tribute Triumph

The Megacycle on display at the Peterson Museum in Los Angeles just before being auctioned off,.

Manuel is building a tribute bike to the Megacycle by Ed Roth, it is currently a work in progress, pictured below. In Manuel's own words:

"Five years ago at the Mooneyes show I met Larry Watson and I had to talk to him about a question I had in the back of my mind. Are Ed Roth's MegaCycle and Larry Howard's Glitter Cycle the same bike?To start, Watson told me that his friend Larry Howard who had a shop on the same street in Bellflower, California built the Gitter Cycle. Watson painted it twice and after 20 years of shows and over 40 trophies, Howard took the bike apart and built another bike with some of the parts.

Watson also told me the Ed Roth MegaCycle was a bike inspried of
the Glitter Cycle and also the Revel model made at the time of the same
bike. MegaCycle was built in Hollister by Triumph guy Bob Aquistapace.
Ed Roth ended up trading his Sportster for the MegaCycle.

I decided to build a bike inspired of these two bikes as a tribute
with lots of differences but the same spirit. I started with a 1966 T120
Bonneville frame and a fresh Triumph TR7 Tiger motor with an 850 kit
instead of a pre unit motor. Also the Glitter Cycle tank was built out
of a LaSalle (car) headlight and would only hold a half gallon. I wanted
mine to be able to take to the road so I shaped a tank that holds 1.75
gallons or a little better and is all steel welded and moulded to the
frame (no fiberglass here). The seat is steel too. The seat is also
flaired and moulded in the fender, which is a 1950's Wassell ribbed
(thick steel). Also frenched the taillights as the Glitter and
MegaCycle."